Sunday, September 13, 2009

MOUSE GUARD: WINTER 1152

STORY SYNOPSIS It is winter and the Mouse Guard has been betrayed. Now the defenders of the community must unite the people under one banner and defeat the mice who seek to destroy the culture from the inside.

REVIEW Volume two in the MOUSE GUARD series is as exemplary as any piece of literature today – be it comic or traditional. Petersen’s storytelling is not only compelling in it’s ability to bring the reader into the wee squeakers’ world, but his character development and willingness to allow a character to die for the good of the tale is beyond the norm for most books, comics or otherwise.

Petersen takes his time – a characteristic I cannot stress enough in literature, television or movies. There is plenty of intrigue and medieval swordplay to satisfy the action-adventure soul, but the characters are also dimensional with faults, complexities and potential for growth. The ramifications of the death of one of the culture’s greats is yet to be seen, but we feel for the civilization’s loss and for Lieam who must silently carry the black mantle of the fallen hero and become more than he is.

MOUSE GUARD is not a story but a rich mythos. Powerful. Addictive. Enthralling. Rich. None of these words do justice to Petersen’s rodent civilization. It is one of my all-time favorite pieces of comic literature and I cannot wait for the next season to begin.

BE AWARE Mice with swords battle birds and snakes and opossums in order to keep their realm safe. That means there is mild fantasy cartoon violence afoot.

IN THE CLASSROOM Petersen does something I do not recall seeing in any other piece of comic literature. At the end of each chapter, he provides a two-page artistic rendering foreshadowing an important aspect that will occur in the following chapter.

This is the perfect way to 1) keep children interested in reading and 2) a way to teach students to predict, which is an important reading strategy. Children can look at the wordless image and predict what will occur in the next chapter based on the available information. Then they can read to find out if their prediction was correct or not.

From an artistic perspective, this is a way to enhance the beauty of the book and further engross the reader into the mythos. From a reading comprehension point of view, these end-of-chapter illustrations are a brilliant way to help readers engage in research-based reading strategies whether they know it or not.

About TGC

The Graphic Classroom is a resource for teachers and librarians to help them stock high quality, educational-worthy, graphic novels and comics in their classroom or school library. I read and review every graphic novel or comic on this blog and give it a rating as to appropriateness for the classroom.

Submit Your Comics

Would you like your comic or graphic novel reviewed here at THE GRAPHIC CLASSROOM? You can do so in two ways, one of which is guaranteed and the other is not:

1. Send me a copy of the comic or graphic novel. I will read it and review it as soon as possible. You can email me privately and I will give you my mailing address. abikerbard@mac.com

2. You can simply tell me about your creation.

If you send me a copy, then I will review your submission. I will be honest and fair and do my best to get your book reviewed in a timely manner. I am a full time graduate student, so my time is limited. If I receive a lot of books, then I will put them on a first-come, first-reviewed list and do the best I can.

If you cannot or will not send me a media copy of your book, then you can just request that I review it. My money is short, as I am going to school and not working, so you are depending on my ability to afford your book. There is no guarantee that I will get to your work nor any guarantee that I will even review it. If I can afford it and have time to read it, then I will most certainly review it. It's all about the teachers, librarians and kids.

Reviews are never based on free media copies. I am writing my Master's Thesis on the subject of comics in the classroom, so this is important to me. I am committed to this and I take reviews very seriously. I do not rip into books in order to get readership. I will have a critical eye, but I am also excited about helping teachers find great books for the classroom.

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About The Editor

My name is Chris Wilson. My first name is Jack, which is why you see it on the posts, but I usually go by my middle name: Chris. Having worked as the Managing Editor for a weekly newspaper then as the Director of a non-profit for people with disabilities, I have gone back to school. I am now a full time graduate student in the college of education at Missouri State University. I am getting my Masters of Science in Education – Elementary Education.

I know that reading is a problem for many students today. I feel strongly that comics and graphic novels can be one way that we can combat this problem. Graphics novels should be in every public school library and classroom library. That is why I am choosing to write my thesis on using comics and graphic novels in the elementary classroom.

Email Meabikerbard@mac.com

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Disclaimer

Some comic literature is not appropriate for every classroom, or every community. Some are not appropriate for any classroom. You need to review any piece of comic literature for yourself and determine if it is appropriate for your grade, class, curriculum, goals, school and community.